DirecTV, Sunbeam Tackle Retrans Accord

Sunbeam and DirecTV have reached a retransmission-consent agreement that ensures, for one thing, that Super Bowl XLVI will not be blacked out on Sunbeam's Boston NBC affiliate.

The agreement , terms of which were not dislosed, covers WHDH and WLVI Boston and WSVN Miami and comes after calls from Massachusetts legislators to the parties and to the Federal Communications Commission to get a deal done before the Big Game, which features the New England Patriots against the New York Giants.

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement to end the Sunbeam blackout, and regret that any of our customers were forced into the middle of a business dispute where they should never have been in the first place," said DirecTV "We believe, like many, the public-interest is best-served by allowing customers to keep their local broadcast stations as we negotiate future agreements, rather than being denied access by broadcast stations and used as leverage in what should be a private business matter."

"We are pleased that we reached an agreement with DirecTV, and we appreciate our viewers' patience during this tough negotiation," said Robert Leider, executive vice president and general manager of Sunbeam.